Pupil dilation

[vollmerj83]

Ever since my daughter has been a few months old, one of her pupils has always dilated bigger than the other. When I took her to the doctors a while back, they said it was normal. She is a few days away from being 6 now and it has not changed. What should I do?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

If the pupils are the same size all life and suddenly become different size then there are many tests and many causes that need to be looked for.

However for someone where it has been present all their life and the pupil works (gets bigger in dark and small in light and when reading) then it's just like having been born with one foot a little bigger than the other.

JCH MD

[vollmerj83]

Ok. Can you tell me what possible causes there are for the different pupil dilation?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

To accept the assurance that it is normal she should have been checked by an Eye MD ophthalmologist physician, not at a chain optical or by a non-physician optometrist.

If she has and nothing changes it is normal, as many as 5% of people have some difference in the size of their pupils (aneisocoria)

JCH MD